History
Our History curriculum is sequenced so that our children’s historical knowledge, understanding and skills build over time. Within our classrooms, we follow ambitious lines of enquiry by answering big questions such as: What was life like for leaders of the past? We teach children the knowledge they need in small steps to answer these challenging questions successfully. Studying history in this way inspires children’s curiosity, encourages them to ask critical questions and enables them to have a better understanding of the society in which they live and that of the wider world. We base our learning on the historical concepts of:
• Cause and consequence
• Historical significance
• Continuity and change
• Similarity and difference
Whilst always considering:
• Chronology and understanding
• Perspective and interpretation
• Historical enquiry
In our history curriculum, we have thought about key threads that run through the units of learning. These include invasion and settlement, legacy, empire, civilisation, monarchy, leadership and power and societal and cultural change. By carefully mapping these themes across the units and revisiting them in different sequences of learning, we ensure children make links and gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between local, national and international history; and between short and long-term timescales.
In our EYFS, children begin to develop their sense of chronology by talking about their own life story and the life story of family members. They are supported to communicate in the past tense when talking about things that have happened.
In KS1 and KS2, history is taught as a discrete subject once each term. Teachers plan sequences of lessons across the unit that will build on and develop the children’s knowledge and skills. In Key Stage 1, our curriculum is mapped to enable children to develop an awareness of the past, using common words and phrases relating to the passing of time. They will start to know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods. As they progress through the key stage, they will begin to make comparisons and connections between people and events in the past.
In Key Stage 2, children will continue to develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study. This chronology, or sequence of events, will be referred to throughout KS2 so that children become secure in their understanding of important historical events and eras. Please see the intent document.
History curriculum documents
History Curriculum year group progression
History Curriculum vocabulary ladders progression
History Curriculum whole school map and learning focus